I took Lacy (2 1/2 year old yorkie) to the vet today for her annual checkup and vaccinations. The vet said she has luxating patellas. She said the left one was probably a grade 2 and the right one a grade 3. I had noticed before that her legs seemed to pop sometimes if I was trimming her nails or something but didn't think too much about it. She's never had any problems with her legs locking up or limping and hasn't seemed to be in any pain. I saw though that her right knee was really popping out easily though. Her vet said she was at a healthy weight which will minimize problems with her knees. She said that they have seen many dogs under 15lbs live just fine with grade 3 and under luxating patellas and that a lot of them were fine without surgery. She said that we would just need to monitor it and that as long as it doesn't cause her pain or start locking up or causing her to limp that she wouldn't need surgery. I've been reading more about it online too, but I was wondering if any of you had any experience with a small dog having luxating patellas and how I can best keep her from having problems from it? She can be a pretty active dog and jumps on and off the bed and couch, runs up and down my stairs, and is a very fast runner. Anyways if any of you have any advise let me know

I'm pretty positive they do. I never looked into it. I'm really sorry about your baby. I'm not sure if one of my females has it or not, her right knee is pretty screwy, I think it does, but I never got it checked out. I think its a slight one, or something, the breeder told me about it, and I'm thinking, yay...$1000 down the drain..WOOT, baha, there went my dream show dog. Anywho, when she gets spayed I'm getting her knee looked at too. I'm sure they sell something at a vet site or just a regular pet care site though.

My Billy had a grade 3 luxating patella. I took him to a specialist and had the surgery. This was last November. Billy was two at the time, and did wonderfully. If I were you, I would get both legs done at once. Billy's other leg was fine, but I would have done them both at once, if needed.

My senior girl, whom I adopted, has high-grade luxating patellas, which were never fixed. She's too old now, but the pain this little one has gone through most of her life is sad. Her knees popped out and stayed out. As a result her legs bowed to compensate. Premature arthritis set in at a very early age, and now we have to be very careful in her walks, as she is prone to ligament damage, which cripples her for close to a month, and is very painful. To be safe, I walk her with a body sling, to lift much of the weight from her rear legs.

She takes Chondroitin/Glucosomine pills. You can purchase them in the vitamin section of any drug store. She takes 1/2 pill each day. This helps with her arthritis, and assists in strengthening cartlidge.

I wish I had a time machine. I would go back to 1993, and have Daisy's legs fixed :(

If she has Luxating Patellas, you definitley don't want her jumping off of beds or couches. She can run but not to an excess. Jumping off of couches is bad for any small or medium sized dog. The impact of the landing wears the joints and ligaments and can worsen Luxating Patellas and can also lead to other problem such as Arthritis. Many companies offer complete bone supplements for joint flexibility and strength, bone strength, calcium ect. Try Petsmart. Hope this helps. :)